08/13/2012

Tom and I had a difficult time deciding on a theme for Brodie and Liam’s first birthday party. Robots, superheroes, and vintage airplanes were all top contenders, but we finally decide to go with Toy Story. I remember falling in love with the original Toy Story when I first saw it at the theater with my best friend in elementary school, and it has been a favorite ever since. There is an entire aisle devoted to Toy Story at our local party store, but Tom and I agreed that we wanted the style of the party to be more classic, so we went to work. I designed the invitations, pendant banner, food labels, straw flags, favor tags, and thank you cards using Adobe Illustrator. The boys’ great grandmother designed and made the personalized party hats. While the boys did not keep them on long (they were so much more fun to play with than to wear), the hats were by far my favorite party detail. We purchased the candy jars and individual cupcake stands from Hobby Lobby. Rather than buy glass milk bottles, which can be a bit pricey, we recycled Starbucks Frappuccino bottles as seen at Teal & Lime. We ordered the paper straws and paper candy cups from The Sugar Diva. One of my favorite party planning tasks was shopping for the candy at our local vintage candy shop. I can’t wait to take the boys there when they get older. There was a first birthday photo shoot taking place while I was shopping; so cute! Tom did an awesome job on the Mr. Potato Head and Alien cake pops. Check out this great tutorial from Bakerella. We displayed the cake pops in small shipping boxes and used marshmallows to represent foam packaging. Tracylyn at Simply Sweet Bakery did a fabulous job on the cake and cookies. They were both a big hit! The party was a blast and it was such a special day of celebrating with our dear friends and family.

07/17/2012

Where does the time go? I can't believe the boys are already a year old. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were bringing our little guys home from the hospital! Chocolate cupcakes, milk, and lots of hugs made for a great day.